Repressed, now at mid-line price; reissue of two Vanguard albums on one CD. "The Serpent Power's sole album (self titled, from 1967) is one of those lesser known gems from the San Francisco flower scene. Discovered and planted on Vanguard by ED Denson (Country Joe & the Fish and Fahey manager), their brand of psychedelic folk rock strongly resembles the intoxicating vibes of the Fish: a similar wheezing Farfisa, the occasional harmonica, and exquisite mellow guitar leads (not quite in the Barry Melton league, but that would be asking for too much). Great songs here too, with the epic 13-minute-long 'Endless Tunnel,' an Eastern-tinged acid jam spiced up with an electric banjo, being worth the price of admission alone. After the Serpent Power dissolved, David and Tina Meltzer, the creative force behind the band, recorded one further album for Vanguard. The resulting Poet Song LP from 1969 contains a mix of David's poems backed by music and folk songs sung by his angelic-voiced wife. The intricate arrangements on this grower are by Ed Bogas -- a service this forgotten soundtrack composer and the Bay Area's equivalent to Jack Nitzsche performed for many a SF legend."

This is one of my favourite bands from the late '60s. Their two albums 'The Insect Trust' (Capitol; 1968) and 'Hoboken Saturday Night' (Atco; 1970) are unique. The band drew on people who had come up through the folk and blues scenes, including Bill Barth and Luke Faust. Sax player Bob Palmer later became the rock critic Robert Palmer. Singer Nancy Jeffries went on to become a hotshot A & R talent scout for first RCA and then A & M (she signed Suzanne Vega to the latter) plus other major labels. The Insect Trust albums occasionally make it on to CD (the first album has been released in the UK on both vinyl and CD). However, until this post, I'd only ever met one other person who actually owned the band's records (and she was from New York and knew the band personally).

John Crosby wrote:However, until this post, I'd only ever met one other person who actually owned the band's records (and she was from New York and knew the band personally).

I played them quite a bit on Honky Tonk - the title that drifts into my head was something like The Eyes of a New York Woman.

Your memory is correct Charlie. Interestingly, the lyrics of the track you mention are actually from Thomas Pynchon's novel 'V'.

Charlie wrote:Just tried to befriend or send them a message but access is blocked

It seems (at least as recently as 2006) that Nancy was / is Senior Vice President of A&R at Elektra Entertainment and had been the person responsible for bringing both Ziggy Marley and Suzanne Vega to the label. I just came across a good feature on The Insect Trust at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuar/ ... &id=888816 which may be of interest.